Golden sun 3: Alex's Revenge
by DarkShadow667
Summary: The golden sun has Risen. Alex is believed to be dead. The group is walking to Tolbi in order to make a place to stay for the people of Vale. New party members are met along the way. R&R It's my first Fiction, so take it easy.
1. Prologue: Impossible Meeting

Prologue: Impossible Meeting

_Alex stood in front of Issac, in his cold tone, he said._

_ "So you found me Issac. What do you intend to do now? Kill me?"_

_"How? You were pulled into the heart of the earth along with Mount Aleph!"_

_"Yet how do I stand before you now?"_

_Issac was temporaily speechless. "I, I don't, know."_

_"Then what makes you think I am dead? The power of the Golden Sun has kept me alive, but it is not complete!"_

_"Then, where is the rest of it's power?"_

_"YOU HAVE IT!"_

_"W-What? I was never at Mt. Aleph, how could I have it!"_

_"Lies! All LIES! However, if I kill you, then I should get my power. DIE!"_

_At that, Alex went to his knees and slammed both of his palms onto the ground. the intial hit, shook the ground, but the tremoring kept getting worse and worse. A crack split the ground, and it was soon joined by another one, and another and another. Eventually, the ground collapsed away, leaving a ten-meter pit in the ground. The edges began to glow red, then orange, then yellow and when it glowed white, a geyser of molten rock exploded upwards. The Molten rock hovered in t he air and then began to shapeshift. First it formed a long, snake-like body, arms with molten claws soon followed, as well as legs. A roughlytriangular head formed afterwards, with jaws that spewed molten rock, finally, enourmous wings sprouted from the back of the creature. The final result, was the shape of a Molten Dragon. It began circling the air above Alex barely moving it's wings at all._

_"How can you do this? You are a Water Adept!"_

_"The power I did get from the Golden Sun allows me to do this. Now DIE!"_

_The Dragon, had now stopped circling and began sniffing the air. It sensed Issac and turned to face him. It emittied a stream of molten rock into the air to intimidate Issac. Afterwards, it lunged forward, jaws wide. Issac could only stare as the Dragon came closer and closer, when suddenly -._

"Wake Up!"

Issac suddenly fell from his bed, stunned, "Uwah? Whasgoinon? Whosere? Mom?"

"Yes, you were tossing and turning, I thought I should do something, now get up, get dressed and go, you're meeting with Felix today remember?"

_The meeting!_ Issac thought. "Sorry mom, I'll be going right away."

"Wait just one moment." Dora said before he could leave.

"What now?"

"What were you seeing? Most people don't toss and turn unless they're dreaming vividly. What did you see?"

Issac thought for a moment, the dream seemed to trickle away from his mind, so he simply told her :"It was a dream mom, just a dream. I'll see you later."


	2. Chapter 1: Late Meet Scrambles

Chapter 1: Late Meet Scrambles

Felix glanced over to look over at the window that showed the room wher Issac slept. "Why isn't he out yet, we said we would meet with the others a lot earlier than this. They're gonna be pretty ticked off when we show up late." He said to no one.

The door of the Inn opened and Issac rushed out, dressed in his usual blue and red tunic and short yellow cape, As for his face, well it needed a good wash, his normally golden blonde hair was caked a little with dirt and his smooth face was starting to break out a little. The on thing that remained unchanged were his eyes. _So unlike mine_. Felix thought. While Felix's eyes were on no accounts, ugly, they were just a simple brown. Issac's were a shiny blue. The odd thing was, he looked so calm and serene until an enemy was placed in front of him. Felix knew that a really dumb thing to do would be to really annoy Issac. Both Felix and Issac had fought fiercely against the Doom Dragon that appeared on Mars Lighthouse. He immediatly took a quick look to Issac's waist to check if he had his sword with him. The sword he normally carried was simply called "Excalibur." When it unleashed it's full might, three phantom swords would appear from a rift to smite the enemy. He, however, didn't have it with him today. _Foolish, if we were attacked, he would be unarmed._

"So, you're finally awake, what'd you do, stay up late? You knew we had a meeting today didn't you?" Felix said.

"Hey, you're not the one who was plagued by nightmares now were you?" Issac replied, with a serious tone in his voice.

"Since that day that set you on your quest and me on mine I have had nightmares, my family dissapearing before my eyes, my little 'swim' to Prox, remember that? Also, of fighting you."

"Oh. Wait, why would fighting me be a nightmare? You are the one with the Sol Blade!"

Felix only pondered this for a second than recalled what he meant. _Right, the Sol Blade_. How could he forget, while they were all in Mars Lighthouse, he had found this legendary blade. As well as the suit of armour in his room that he keeps well oiled, should he ever need it. _My blade is the only reason I am so strong._ Felix thought.

"That's not true." Said a voice from behind Felix, It took a second to remember the person's voice, than remembered: _Sheba_.

"Yup, you got it in one." Sheba said. Issac wore a look of confusion.

"Eh? What are we talking about? He is the one with the Sol Blade, isn't he?"

"True, but it was what he thought not what he said." Sheba responded with a smile. Felix couldn't help but smile as well, with that blonde hair and her short stature, as well as her classic Laliveran look, she looked like the kind of girl that would make a man make a double-take just to see if she was real. Belted to her waist was the "Lachesis' Rule" as Kraden had called it. It's ability could bring about an "apocalypse" for the enemy. It would strike them withg a powerful force, and possibly, kill them slowly. Despite her weapons power, Felix did feel just one teensy bit of annoyance

"So you were reading my mind? Again? You of all people know that I don't like anyone prying in my mind."

"Geez, You thought that so hard even if I had the faintest Mind Read going on from 10 leagues away I would've heard that clear as a bell."

"Oh, well what do you mean by 'That's not true'? Without that blade, I would be nothing. It was with it's power of Megiddo that I was able to even do any damage to it."

Now it was Issac's turn to speak. "Felix, even if you were only equipped with a stick you would've been a fierce fight for that dragon. Now let's get going, we're even later than we were when I first woke up. By the way, Sheba, why did you come here?"

"I came here to get you two since the meeting started about an hour ago! Let's go!"

"Right, let's go, if only we had Jenna's Coal Djinn, we might get there faster. We're meeting in the underground tunnels right?" Felix said.

"Yeah, But the main entrance in there is so far away, what can we do?" Sheba asked.

"Follow me." At that, Felix ran.

"Come on Issac, let's go!"

"Right behind you Sheba."

They had never gone so fast through Vault before, but they weren't heading towards the entrance, but towards the -.

"The well? This is miles from the entrance to the caverns!" Sheba yelled.

"Yes, but very close to the meeting spot, we're almost directly above them." Felix stated.

Now, Issac had to ask. "And what are we supposed to do? That thing is deep."

"We go through the well. You have the Hover Jade don't you Sheena?" Asked Felix.

"Yes, but there's that statue in front of there to keep people out of there." Sheba responded.

"Yes, that is a problem. I guess I didn't think it through enough, dammit!" Felix responded.

"Umm, I may be able to help." Issac interjected.

"How? That statue is huge, plus, I can't use Move on it properly."

"True, but I was refering to one of these." At that, he pulled out a small smooth stone and what looked like a brooch with a red jewel in it.

"Ok, I understand how you got the Grindstone since I gave that to you a while ago, but how did you get that Burst Brooch, Jenna had that. Did she give that to you as a gift as well?" Felix said.

Issac blushed slightly. "Well, I was thinking we could either grind it down, or simply blow it up."

"I like the 'blow it up' part. Let's do it. Sheba, we need you to use hover and lower all three of us into the well, can you do that?"

"If I, along with a few people can raise a ship, I can certainly lower three people into a well."

"Just wanted to know." Felix said. At that, Psynergy started to radiate from Shena's body, Felix could then feel himself being lifted from the ground, he looked over and saw the same thing happening to Issac. Afterwards, all three strated to move forward over the well, and then slowly descended. Felix knew he shouldn't say anything, the last time that happened, Sheba lost here concentration and they fell. Felix would normally relive that memory to get a good laugh. But then a shocking thought crossed his mind, Issac never knew about that! Felix than prayed that he wouldn't speak, but as unfortunate luck would have it.

"Wow, this is kinda cool going down instead of up, eh Sheba?" Issac asked innocently. Felix than palmed himself in the forehead as he saw Sheba's body stop radiating Psynergy. He knew what would happen next.

"Smooth move Issac." Felix told Issac. At that, they started plummeting. Felix landed first, and the landing drove the wind out of him. As well, he felt a resounding crack come from his chest, one of his ribs had been broken. He tried to scream, but the wind was still knocked out of him. He waited for the 'WUMP' noise that would be Issac landing, but heard none for a second. Then something landed on him from above, something heavy. Again, Felix felt the air driven out of him. As well, he felt two more cracks coming from his chest, aparantly, two more ribs had just been broken. Afterwards, he saw Sheba drift down slowly, Psynergy radiating from her. She had managed to use Hover in the nick of time. He tried to speak, but couldn't. He instead heard Issac's voice, talking to Sheba.

"Well, it seems I got lucky that I landed on something soft, eh Sheba?" Sheba, from what Felix could see, had a very slight look of amusement on her face.

"Umm, Issac. That's Felix"

"Wha?" Issac looked down and saw him, lying on the ground. "Oh sorry man! I didn't see you there, you really need to not where so much dark stuff."

"G.. Ge... Get OFFA ME!" Felix yelled. At that, Issac ran off as fast as he could. "God, you broke two of my ribs you bum. **_Potent Cure!_** At that, Felix felt his broken ribs slowly knit themselves back together, as well, he felt strong enough to pay Issac back. Slowly, to check that he was capable, he stood up and looked directly at Issac. "That. Hurt. A lot."

"Geez I said I was sorry, what more do you want?"

"Some slight payback, **_Tremor!_**" With that, Issac was shaken violently and felt flat on his face. We heard a whoosh that meant that Issac had the wind knocked out of him, but that wasn't quite enough. With another raise of his hand, the next invocation was. "**_Carry!_**" Issac then had his body lifted up, moved to a slightly different spot, and fell flat on his face. Again. "There, now I'm happy. Get up you lump." He knew where to draw the line. If he continued, Issac would most likely challenge him to a fight, but he left is sword back at his room, Felix, on the other hand, never went anywhere without the Sol Blade. He felt, that should anyone he met betray him, he'd make them meet a very swift and painless end. Issac, now after Felix's pondering had recovered and spoke.

"Ok, I guess I Kida deserved that"

"Yes, you did. Now, I rethought the Idea and I think that I should use Tremor on the statue. That might knock it into the water. If we blow it up, the shock could bring the whole cavern down. Now let's move."

A few minutes passed of walking before they came across the statue. Felix was the first to break the silence. "**_Tremor!" _**At that, the statue shook, and shook, and shook until it fell over and landed in the water next to it. Then he heard a familiar voice, the voice of his red-headed sister Jenna.

"You sure know how to make an entrance, if you had made that entrance about an hour and a half ago, iut would have been better," Jenna said. "We've been waiting for you guys forever!'

"Hey it's not my fault, Blondie over there decided to sleep in. I was waiting for him for about an hour. If he didn't decide to have a nightmare tonight, we would've made that entrance ages ago."

"Heh, come on, everyone's been waiting."

Over at the crater where Mount Aleph had been pulled into the earth, if someone were to climb down about thirty feet, they could hear a faint noise coming from deep below. It sounded like grunts and groans...


	3. Chapter 2: Meeting in Vault

Chapter 2: Meeting in Vault

Felix did his usual weapons check on Jenna, While she was fair, wearing her usual red tunic, she had a light blade attached to her belt. Slightly odd, since the other girls prefered to use staffs. The sword was called Tisiphone's Edge. When it unleashed it's power, from nowhere, several arrows would attack the enemy, the more arrows that hit, the better. However, Jenna's concern was not on weapon checking Felix.

"Umm, Felix, why are you limping?" Asked Jenna as the group walked towards the meeting spot.

"Fell, cracked one rib, Issac broke two more when he landed on me, Healed myself, ribs still tender. That sum it up enough?" Felix recited.

"Amazing how you can stand face to face with an enourmous three-headed dragon and not flinch, but now you fall, and deep down here, you're limping at that." Jenna said with a smile.

"Well, mostly it's my pride that's hurt, not me, I'll get Mia to patch me up a bit more if she doesn't mind." Felix told Jenna. He knew that Mia would. She was never meant as a fighter, but if someone had a single scratch that pained them, Mia would fix it up quick as a flash. Meanwhile, in the back, Issac was having a lively conversation with Sheba.

"So, do you think Felix is really hurt or just faking to get Mia's attention?" Issac said. Sheab put on a small look of concentration, Issac could sense very faint psynergy coming from her.

"He's not faking, but that might just be a surface thought, I don't know about deep down in his mind, and if I try too hard, he'll sense it." Sheba stated.

"Eh, well I think he's faking still."

"I just read his mind, what more do you want?"

"I heard that Sheba! I've told you, stay out of my mind!" Felix yelled back to Sheba.

"Do it again, but fainter." Issac whispered to Sheba.

"I don't need to, I can always sense strong thoughts from people and all I can hear is 'Nice Try' over and over, if I were to go in, that's all I would hear." Sheba said.

"Ah well, gee I wish I could read minds." Issac stated.

"We're here!" Jenna proclaimed. Sure enough, when Issac and Felix looked ahead, they saw a beutifully carved in room, quite different from the cavern they were just in. Candles were lit on a large oak table. _How did they get that in?_ Felix wondered. There were torches lit along the walls as well. Unfortunately, that made the area seem slightly dungeon-ish. Felix looked around to reconize the faces of the friends whom he trusted no matter what.

First, there was Garet, a Fire adept like Jenna. Taller than anyone else, he had violent red hair that would always seem to point up. As well, he wore mostly red, yellow and green. On one of his fingers, he saw the Cleric's Ring. He took a second to remember why he wore it. Garet had taken a liking to the strength giveen to him by cursed artifacts. However, when he equipped his last item, the Darksword (which Felix could se attached to his belt, the only sword known to surpass the strength of the Sol Blade, except when the soll Blade would use Megiddo and the Darksword would use Acheron's Grief), the items permanantly became the only things he could equip. He could remove them, but if he tried to put any other type of armour, cap or shield on, they would shrink too small to fit on him. And any other weapon's handle would grow to be far too large. He wore the ring to keep the curse from imobilising him in battle. Felix suspected that the ring might've been weakening since it seemed to (maybe it was just the bad lighting) have lost it's sparkle.

Next to him was Ivan. A Wind Adept, like Sheba, he also had the ability to read minds. he had his usual attire on, green cape, a tunic of green and yellow, and his almost always seemingly perfect hair. _Why can't my hair be more like his? It's always getting in my face._ Which was entirely true, the odd thing was that also like Sheba, he had blonde hair. _Coincidence, Hama is a Wind Adept and her hair is purple._ At Ivan's waist was his weapon of choice. The KiKuichimongi blade. Ivan explained that he found it from a Fenrir in Venus Lighthouse. Felix neither knew nor cared what a Fenrir was, but he knew that the sword was strong. When he used it's power, he struck with the power of what Kraden researched to be a great and powerful female warrior by the name of Asura. It explained why Felix kept thinking he saw a woman appear whenever Ivan used it's power.

Further along, was Kraden, one of the greatest scholars that Felix had known. He always wore a brown cloak that covered his body. His face showed someone who had seen many experiances in his life, many of which could have been life changing. His hair was whiter than anyone Felix had seen, but one of the oddest things Felix remarked were his spectales that he wore, they would seemiingly never leave Kraden's face unintentionally, they would almost always seem to dangle precariously, before Kraden would push them back up. Felix was always curious about Kraden's past. All he knew was that he was raised by Lord Babi during his youth. _Bless Babi. _Thought Felix, since he recalled the news that Alex brought them when Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Piers had arrived in Champa. It was news of Babi's passing. Felix rememberedKraden's reaction to this. and decided to look next to Kraden.

The next person his eyes met was Piers, a Water adept from the legendary land of Lemuria. He had blue hair (like everyone in Lemuria) and amazingly kind eyes. he always, though, wore a long hood that went from his head to his feet, covering his back. Piers' past was mysterious since, like all Lemurians, he had an extremely long life. From the outside, he only looked about as old as Sheba, but Felix knew that he must be must older. He remembered with a slight chuckle of how when they first left Lemuria, Sheba and Jenna (and even Kraden) had pesterd him for his age. The weapon he chose to use was just as mysterious as him. Him being a Water adept, it seemed strange that he would use a weapon such as the Fire Brand. The blade seemed to constantly be on fire, but it provided no heat, unless it was swung at an enemy with malicious intent. When it unleashed its power, a web of fire would surround the enemy, and send them to a purgatory.

Lastly was Mia. Like Piers, she was a Water Adept, but she had more healing arts than Piers. She only wore blue robes, that went well with her long blue hair. _It must be a fashion statement to have your hair blue if you're a Water Adept._ Felix thought, since as well as Piers and Mia, Alex, another Water Adept had blue hair. Mia would almost always be ready to patch someone up. He remembered how she had drained all her psynergy trying to revive his parents atop Mars Lighthouse. Her weapon, was a perfect ft for her. While they were in Mars lighthouse, when a Minotaurus attacked them from nowhere, it dropped the weapon upon it's demise. It was called "Clothos' Distaff." While most weapons that the whole group would unleash devastating power, her weapon would heal them, almost back to their full potential. He remembered that, while she didn't partake in the actual fighting on top of Mars Lighthouse, she did heal everyone like crazy.

Felix immediatly sat down at one of the empty chairs, as did Issac, Jenna and Sheba. Kraden was the first to speak.

"Now that we are all here, finally, we can begin. Now, the question we are trying to answer is, where can we go? Vale has been destroyed, and Vault wasn't made for this many people. Plus, the closest town is Lunpa, but I don't think going there would be a wise decision."

Felix remembered that Issac and his group had infiltated the castle. Dodonpa, the current ruler, would certainly still be looking for them. Garet than spoke up with an Idea.

"Umm, I realize that this would kind of end the meeting, but couldn't we all go to Tolbi?"

"How on Weyard would we get everyone there? I can Understand if it's just the nine of us, but carry all of Vale on our ship! I don't think that could be done!" Felix replied.

"I believe, that if we focus our power, we could either, take only a few people at a time, and go around the mountains and past the Karagol Sea, which would take a long time, or we could go over the mountains." Garet said smoothly.

"How can we fly that ship over mountains? we can't even get it to rise over forests! I realise that you had that Idea and thought it would be a good Idea, but this, this is preposterous." Sheba said.

"Garet, I'm gonna have to agree with Sheba on this, I could barely help with your parents. what If I were to mess up?" Mia stated.

"While it is true that we, can't really go over forests, but what if the whole village focused? We could probably raise the ship higher than the tallest tree." Garet replied.

"And if one of them loses concentration? What happens then? We plummet to our death?" Issac shot back.

"All of you, you're forgetting one thing, and for this, I will side with Garet. We have lity all the lighthouses, Alchemy has been released, all of our psynergy should be somewhat stronger. We have Jupiter lit, so the wind will be at our side, Mars is lit, it will keep us energised, Earth is lit so we need not fear the earth, and Water is lit, to make the ship fly more smoothly on the air as it does on the water." Kraden said.

Suddenly Issac had an Idea. "Guys, remember when we were near Tolbi and we went looking for Babi's lemurain Draught?"

"Yah, but what does that have to do with getting to Tolbi?" Mia asked.

"Simple, they were working on those tunnels, I'm sure that with enough time they could -"

"Go through the mountains!" Garet blurted.

"Issac, it will probably be a long time before they get all the way through the mountains." Felix stated.

"True, but what if they had some help?" Issac replied.

"So you are proposing that we nine go to Tolbi and help them go through the mountains, thereby ensuring an easy path for the people from Vale to get to Tolbi, sounds good to me, any objections?" Kraden proclaimed.

There were none, but Sheba had an idea as well.

"While going there, we could see who has potential to help. That could work."

"Yeah, we need all the help we can get, the strength of the psynergy in Vale just wouldn't be helpful enough. So we need outside assistance." Kraden said. "So, Tolbi it is?"

"**YEAH!**" Everyone replied.

"Very well, we leave in a week, get ready, meeting adjourned."

Back at Mount Aleph's Crater, from the top, the grunts and groans can be heard clearer than before. It's as if someone is climbing out. Also, some words can be heard, while they are faint, the words heard are :"...will ... kill ... Iss ... thief ... stole ... power!"


	4. Chapter 3: Nightly Attack!

Chapter Three: Nightly Attack!

The week until their departure seemed to go by quickly for the group. They had explained to their parents and other friends about what they would be doing, pretty soon, the group was ready to depart. On the final day of their stay, they departed.

"Good-bye mom, I'll take care of Jenna." Felix said.

"See ya mom, sis, little sis," Garet also said.

"Bye townsfolk of Vale." Sheba and Mia told them.

"Byebye dad, I'll take care of Felix." Jenna said.

"May you all enjoy the time you will remain here, we will come back through the mountain tunnel"

"**GOODBYE!**" was the response from the crowd of Vault. And the group set off, heading for the bridge that would lead them to the Kalay port. But when they reached it -

"NO! Not again!" issac shouted.

Felix was confused. "What, what's wrong?"  
"The bridge, look." Issac pointed toward what seemed to be a complete wreckage, there were also extremely large rocks visible, one of which had crashed throught he bridge. "We can't cross it. It's been destroyed again. We'll have to take the long route. Which goes through, unless I'm mistaken Mogall forest, lama Temple, Silk road and -ulp- the Lamakan Desert.

"What's so bad about there? We've been to the Yampi desert, besides being a little hot, it was easy to cross," Sheba stated

"Yes, but I've been there with you, and trust me, that place is a cakewalk compared to the Lamakan Desert, it is unbearably hot there, we were only able to cross it thanks to the oasises found there, buty only with the help of Ivan using reveal. It won't be easy." Garet said. "But look at the bright side, there will be more time for us to maybe meet some new people with adept-like abilities. But first, we need to stop at Bibilin, so we can get some more supplies. If we went back to Vault for them, it would looklike we gave up on our journey."

"Good point, lets move, maybe we can be there before dark, full moon tonight," Felix stated.

The group trekked on, moving slowly though, after passing through the Bibilin cave (which was harder than last time cause more creatures inhabited it) it was already nightfall, Bibilin was still a distance away, but by the time the group would get there, all shops would be closed.

"Lets set up camp for the night. We'll go there tommorow instead." Felix told the group. As they rolled out their covers and set up a fire, a strange sound could be heard in the woods they were using, it sounded like -

"Wolves, just great, the last thing we need is company, and especially from wolves. We should slep in shifts, so that if they visit us, we can drive them away. Uhh, Felix, Sheba, Jenna and Piers, you take the firwst shift, wake us around midnight, we'll take the second shift," Issac told them. While Felix didn't like the Idea of being told what to do, he still liked his idea and happily obliged.

Around midnight, though, something was stirring in a large bush. Felix drew his blade and told the others quietly to wake the other group.

"Wha? What is it? I was havin' a good dream about eating something good and cooked." Garet stated.

"We have company. And if you don't get up, **we** will be cooked." Piers told him.

The group stared at the bush, until Garet walked up and set it ablaze. What they saw, shocked them. I was a wolf larger than any seen before, but then they realized why. It took one look at the group, and then stood up on it's hind legs and gave a loud howl. From it standing up, the group knew what they were up against, a werewolf.

"Uh-oh, we've faced dragons, giant mermen, and large livin suits of armour, but never something as bad as a werewolf! What should we do?" Sheba asked, her voice striken with panic. However, they didn't need to know what to do, Garet stepped forward and fired two fireballs at the wolf, one was a clear miss, but the other struck it on the shoulder. The werewolf, then strangely, fled the scene.

"Umm, ok that was weird. Issac, Garet, Ivan and Mia, your turn for the shift, that wolf seems to fear fire, so if it comes back, shoot it again. Good night." Felix told the group, and fell asleep almost instantly.

Looking down, one can see that someone is climbing up. A man looks over the edge and yells down to the figure "Hey! Do you need some help down there?" Unfortunately, the firgure needs no help, and a shot of fire flies up and is the last thing the man ever sees.


	5. Chapter 4: Youkai

Chapter 4: Youkai

The sleeping group woke up at dawn, and continued to trek towards Bibilin. However, they heard a sound echoeing through the woods. It sounded like groaning.

"Do you guys hear that?" Issac asked. "It sounds like someone's hurt, and badly by the sounds of it."

"Well, what do you propose we do? The groaning is coming from behind us, we'd have to go back and erase some of the distance we've already covered." Felix stated.

"Felix, I understand that you want to get out of these woods, but someone's hurt, we'd do the same for you." Jena told him.

"Alright, lets look for this guy. But if he's to wounded to be saved by Mia or Piers, we leave him, got it?" Felix told the group.

"Yay! I knew you'd change your mind." Jenna replied with glee.

It wasn't long before they found where the sound was coming from. They found a man trudging slowly through the woods, grasping a wounded shoulder. It had been burned, badly. Looking way back, the group could see a burned portion of the woods, could this man have truly trudged all the way from there?

"Hey! Are you ok?" Issac yelled. True, the man looked beaten, his clothes were torn, and he had scratches all over his body, the burn was still the most wounded bit.

"Ugh, not really, can anyone help, a fireball suddenly came from nowhere last night and burned a portion of the forest, I tried to control it, but got burned, badly." the man stated, tension clear in his voice.

"Why just your shoulder? And why are your clothes torn?" Felix asked

"Wolves, even though i tried to control the blaze, it was out of my hands in seconds."

"What is your name? Don't worry, we'll help you out, we just prefer to know the names of those we help"

"The name's... You...kai." At that, he collapsed.

"NO! He can't die! Not now!" Jenna screamed.

Felix reached down and felt his neck. "Don't worry Jenna, he just conked out, Mia, Piers, if you would"

Mia and Piers immediatly began working their Ply psynergy to cure the man, pretty soon, his scrathes sealed and the burn melted away, the whole process took about 5 minutes. Youkai then woke up afterwards.

"Th-thank you, for saving me. For this, I would like to help you out in any way I can." Youkai told the group.

"That depends, you said you tried to control the blaze, how would you be able to do that? The nearest river is miles away." The answer than struck Felix like a heavy mallet. "Are you... an Adept?"

"Adept? I've heard that term before, I can manipulate wind and fire, though I've also been considered a freak because of..." He paused for a minute then said." Doing these things."

_Two different elements? From one adept? This is unheard of, even in legend_._ though that explains how he could control the blaze, slowing the fire, and blowing it out. Well, this will make an interesting addition to our group._ Felix thought. Then he said to Youkai. "All right, you can join us, but we might need to have you suit up first, those clothes won't provide you with much protection. We'll pick you up something decent while we're in Bibilin."

"No need, I live there, I have supplies in my home." Youkai responded.

Piers had a look of confusion. "Well, why don't you have them with you now?"

"Because I was just out camping, that's all."

"Yea, but there was a werewolf on the loose, didn't you know that? Though I think I know how the blaze was started." Felix looked over at Garet. "That's what happens when you miss Garet, others get hurt, next time, aim a little better. Or at least fizzle it out if it misses."

"Geez, sorry, he moved too quickly, and at least it made the wolf run away into the forest... wait, it ran in the direction of the fireball. Youkai, you did see the werewolf didn't you?" Garet said.

Youkai paused for a moment, and then said. "No, I was a distance away before I saw the blaze, out of the forest. I think I saw something leave the blaze when I showed up. That might've been it.. I don' know, it was big though."

Felix listened to this story with growing impatience, his hearing, which was very acute thanks to being able to hear people during a snowstorm in prox, was able to easily pick up the sound of a rapidly beating heart, and it was coming from Youkai. "Is this the truth?"

"Of course, I always do what I can to gain the trust of those that I meet." Youkai replied. "Why would I lie?"

Felix still heard his quickly beating heart. "Then why does your heart pound quickly? Normally, one's heart beats faster when they are lying."

Youkai was stunned at this."Heck, I've just had a near death experiance from burns and cuts, I'm just a little rattled."

Felix still wasn't sure, but it checked out, soon his heart resumed a normal pace. "Alright, you can come with us, but know this, we are travelling far."

"Whereabouts are you headed?"

"Tolbi, we would use the bridge, but it's collapsed again. So we have to take the long route. it goes through Mogall Forest, Silk Road and the, what was it again? Lamakan Desert? Yeah, so it's a long road ahead. Are you sure about this?"

"Of course. I would like to repay those who saved my life."

"Ok then, Youkai, welcome to the group." Felix extended a hand towards him. Youkai reached forward and grasped it and shook.

The figure is finally out of the crater. While his hair is caked with dirt, we can see traces of blue beneath it. At first glance of his hair, one might think that this was a man that they could trust. But behind his eyes, it showed nothing but hate, betrayal and anger. The figure trudged on to the town of Lunpa to rest up, Vale would most certainly be moved to Vault and he didn't want to reveal himself.

Not yet at least...


	6. Chapter 5: Bibilin

Chapter Five: Bibilin

After a long hike, the group arrived at Bibilin. The place seemed a little shaken, no doubt the news that Vale was destroyed had reached them, so fear was the first thing the towns people felt when they saw ten figures, eight if them ready for battle, one an old man and one who (after a closer look) turned out to be Youkai. The townsfolk were even more afraid now.

"Why are they staring at us? Youkai, do you have a bad reputation here?" Sheba inquired.

Youkai was silent, then said. "They don't like me to much. They think I'm jinxed or something, when I'm around, even common accidents are blamed on me. I'm always hearing 'It's not your fault, that Youkai musta jinxed ya behind your back.' My guess is, they don't like me because they never heard of an adept affected by Two elements, we should simply stock up, and leave. I don't want there to be unnecesary rudeness towards you guys."

"I guess that would be a good idea, why do people have to act so stupid just because people are different? It's disgusting." Jenna stated. "Why can't we just forget our diferences and live in peace?"

"Jenna, as much as that is a great idea, not everyone shares your perspective. There are many who consider us freaks because of our abilities." Piers stated.

Suddenly something struck Youkai, it was a wonder he didn't think of this sooner. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't ask this when we were back in the woods, but you see, I don't know any of your names. You all know mine, But what's all yours?"

"I'm Kraden, this is Felix, Piers, Jenna, Sheba, Garet, Issac, Mia and Ivan." He said pointing to each person in turn. "We've all known each other for a long time, as we have all climbed the four lighthouses and lit them in turn."

"That was you guys? Wow, I've heard that that was going on, But I never thought I'de be so fortunate as to meet them. This is quite an honour!" Youkai burst out. "Now I feel as if I haven't shown you all proper respect."

"Nonsense, Just continue to treat us how you have, we don't ask for enourmous amounts of respect." Kraden told him.

"Ok, oh, by the way, this is my house, I'll be back out shortly." Youkai told the group and then dissapeared inside the small home. It was clearly smaller than the houses of anyone else.

_They must truly disrespect him if this is all they would give him for a house. It looks too small to even change your mind without having to step outside._ Felix thought."Do you guys truly trust him? I mean, this is all the respect he gets from the townsfolk, what could he have done?"

"He might just not demand respect. Of course, no one deserves a house this small." Jenna stated.

A few minutes after, Youkai came out of his house, in full armour and a weapon at his side. The armour was black, with red and white designs along the shoulders, with an insignia on the chest. It looked like a wolf paw marking. His blade, while not an artifact like ours, was of the finest make I'd ever seen. Either He was a thief, or he had access to gold. Lots and lots of gold. I then realized that he probabl wouldn't have access to gold since he was living in this small shack, if he had mney, he'd be able to live in a different, larger home.

"Interesting Armour, what's with the symbol on the front though?" Ivan asked.

"Where I was originally from, we marked the fiercest warriors with a wolf paw marking like this one, to symbolize that we have amazing strength, courage and wisdom, to lead troops, to attack decisively and not just hack and slash at the opponent etc."

"Interesting, your sword though, will have to go, we'll find you something a little better." Felix said.

"This sword is of the finest make in my old village!"

"True, but does it contain any magical abilities?"

"Ummm, no."

"Can it heal?"

"No again."

"So it's just a well-wrought sword."

"...Yah."

"Thought so, we all use weapons of power, made ages before our time. I'm sure there are more weapons similar to them that we could get for you. Your armor is fine though, it looks sturdy enough."

"This was made many, many years ago, and it has not scratched since."

"Well then, that works. Now, lets stock up and be on our way."

"Yeah, I don't lke being here, this place gives me the creeps." Jenna said. She looked like it was giving her the creeps as well, her body shivered slightly.

"I agree with Jenna, we've done what we need to do, So let's leave." Garet told Felix.

"We still need food and provisions, I'll get them, don't worry, I'll be quick." With that he left.

"Youkai, lets get out of here, we'll wait for Felix outside the City." Jenna told him.

"Yah, of course, let's go." Youkai responded.

Very soon after, they were out of the city, and a few minutes later, Felix came out carrying several bags full of food and provisions. "We need a lot of food, there isn't another village or anything for a long way away, or at least, any village that could supply us with neccesary food. We head through the Mogall Forest next, and if I recall correctly, we'll need to stay close and stick to a path of sorts, that place is a maze."

"Not neccesarily, While we traveled the lands, we picked up a handy jewel that grants us an ability called Force. We were in the forest at dawn and out at noon. Relax, it will be a short trip." Issac stated to the group.

"That's good, I don't want to have to wander around there like the last time we went in there." Jenna said./

"We won't Just stick to the path. And follow the glowing green monkey."


	7. Chapter 6: Vengeful Plots

Chapter Six: Vengeful plots.

The blue-haired figure trudged forward. Aiming for the town of Lunpa, he trudged slowly.

"Damn that Issac! He, because of that bastard, the 'Wise One' has the power that was supposed to be mine, MINE! I swear, upon the blood that flows through me, that I, Alex the Water adept, will get my Revenge!" The man vowed. Whether his name was Alex, or was simply either possessed or mad was uncertain. But there was one thing that could be understood, he was very, _very_ angry about something.

Lunpa was not far from Vale, but with a wounded and ragged body, it can seem to take an eternity. The minutes crept into hours, which crept into days. The trip took him three days. When he arrived, he was on the brink of death. He walked to the center of the city where there was a fountain, he guzzled at least a gallon of water. He had not been able to get meat, since all animals had fled his haunted looking form. He had only been able to make minicule amounts of water to sustain him, and even that had not been good enough. As he drank, people gathered around to wonder where this man had come from. One man had the nerve to speak to him.

"S'cuze me sir, but, why are you drinking from our town's fountain? There are other sources of water y'know."

"If you value your life, you will step away from me now. Go on, I haven't had any water in days." Alex said.

"Man, this guy's crazy!"

"I warned you." Alex lifted his hand and the ground beneath the man cracked and crumbled. The man stepped away immediately. From the new hole in the ground, water shot out like a geyser. A giant ball of water hovered overtop of the hole. It moved overtop of the man and plummeted.

The man never even had a chance to scream, as he was too stunned from what he saw. Alex loked at the dumbfounded faces of the townsfolk.

"If ANYONE says a word about what you saw to anyone that doesn't live in this village, you will suffer the same fate as this incompetent fool. Now, if you want me to leave quietly, than I will require fixed clothing, food, water and information. Otherwise, this town will be destroyed." His words rang throuhg the village, clear as a bell. many people came closer and offered him a room in their home, but he simply said that he would stay at the inn. He prefered his privacy at night. He went to his room (given to him free of charge, of course) and simply laid down on his bed and thought for a while.

"Issac, where are you! I don't care if it takes me a week, or months, but I WILL find you. You bloody thief, you coward! You simply took my power and ran to get away, because you learned of what would happen. There must be some way to find him..." An idea came to his head. Summons! If he summoned a creature, or many, they could scour the land looking for Issac. "I will have to use my own power for this, seeing as I possess no Djinn of my own. But that doesn't mean that they won't be ruthless. Plus, I can summon one creature that they nearly lost to, hopefully I have the strength" He paused for a moment, cracked his knuckles, than, using a bit of fire power, drew an elegantly crafted circle in the ground, which was about twenty feet wide.

"I call upon the Shadow! The keeper of the light! Come to my aid! I summon thee! Come Dullahan!" The circle glowed, and a large figure grew from it. It appeared to be a black blob, but it re-shaped itself, and a large figure appeared. The figure wore armour that was a shade of violet. In one had it held a long hand-and-a-half sword. The armor itself was elegantly carved with gold mouldings all over it, as well as dried blood from the many it had killed. However, the one thing that grabbed anyone's attention was the fact that it possesed no head. It spoke, but the voice, instead of coming from the head, seemed to reverberate around the room, so it gave the illusion of speaking everywhere at once.

**What do you want?** was the voice that came from the body.

"I wish for you to hunt down the one known as Issac, who hails from the now destroyed city of Vale." Alex told the figure.

**Names are one thing, but what about description? As long as he is not one of the group of eight that defeated me long ago, I will hunt the man relentlessly.**

"You were defeated a while ago? That's not possible! You are Dullahan! You are the shadow in the lighted room! You are all powerful!" _The group of eight? Could... could it be Issac and his group?_ "Dullahan, who was in this group?"

**There were technically nine in the group, but one was old and feeble, he did not fight. The group had what appeared to be three young ladies, one young boy and four men. Yet they fought with the strength of many more than eight.**

"What names did you hear during the battle?"

**I heard the name, I believe it was Felix, as well as Piers, Garet, and I also remember a Jenna.**

_They defeated Dullahan? That's... that's impossible. _"Oh Great Dullahan, The one named Issac is one of the members of this group. However, he alone is weak, if we were to get him alone from his comrades, than we could strike, and kill him."

**He is part of the group. I will not fight him.**

"What If you were to be stronger? With your own allies?"

**Allies? Like who?**

"I could call upon spirits of great beasts that could come to our aid. You alone are a strong match for the group. Add my power, as well as the strength of the creatures I could call upon, and we'd be unstoppable!"

**... What great beasts?**

"I kept track of them as they traveled, I could call upon the spirits of those they defeated. The Serpent of izumo, Valukar, Poseidon. I could call upon the Doom Dragon they fought atop Mars Lighthouse, the Fusion Dragon that they fought at Venus Lighthouse. I could even, by borrowing some strength from you, ressurect the strength of Saturos, Mernardi, Karst and Agatio! All I need, is your strength."

**... What are the conditions of this pact?**

"I deliver the killing blow to Issac. you may do whatever you wish with the others, but Issac is MINE!"

**So be it, our pact is made.** The figure extended an armoured hand, that appeared infinitely larger than Alex's own. Alex took the hand and shook. The pact was made.

"Time to find out where they are." Once again, Alex drew another circle, this one a little different. "I call upon the Bane of the Island City Izumo! The one Who Dwells in Gaia Rock! I summon thee. Come Serpent of Izumo!" the circle glowed and a large emerald-green serpent erupted from the marking. It had to be at least thirty feet long. A pair of wings sprouted from its back as it turned to Alex.

"What isss it you wisssh?" the Serpent hssed

"I want you to find the group that defeated you long ago, traveling with them is a boy with scruffy Blond hair, that the group calls Issac. I want you to fight and weaken the group. That is all.

"Sssso be it." The Serpent Shot out from the inn, blowing a ten foot wide hole in the roof, it then flew off into the distance, looking like a green ribbon.

**Why did you bring him out?**

"Because he has an inate sense of smell, and could easily find their scent, even if they were to venture fifty leagues down into the ocean, the Serpent will hunt them down."

**Yes, but the sunlight will weaken him.**

"Ahh, but he's not weakened by Dragonsbane this time, so he will be stronger than before. Let us go. With your permission, I would like to don a set of armour much like your own."

**... You ask the impossible. There is only one set like this, And I don it.**

"Very well." An idea crossed Alex's mind. He remembered seeing Saturos and mernardi do something like this atop Venus lighthouse. "What if we were to fuse together? We would be of one mind, and our power would soar."

**You Are aware that fusing is permanent?**

"Yes, but then, we'd be able to exact both our revenge at the same time."

**... Do you care for this town we are in?**

"I care for nothing but getting my revenge."

**... Take my hand.**

"I shall." Once again, Alex took Dullahan by the gauntlet, but this time, there was a small glow in his palm, and in Dullahan's. Immediatly afterwards, There was a blinding flash of light that spread and destroyed the village. People ran, but they were no match for the incoming conflagration. Villagers burned, houses collapsed. The castle of Lunpa crumbled as well.

Standing now in the middle of the wreckage, was Alex. Except, it was not quite Alex. He wore a large set of Armour that resembbled Dullahan's, except this was purely black with gold mouldings. In his hands was Dullahan's sword, but it was now wickedly curved and vile-looking. Alex/Dullahan stood up and looked around at the destroyed landscape. His voice was deeper than before, but now came from him, and not all around. They were of one body, but two seperate minds.

"I'm coming for you Issac. You. Will. **DIE!**" He yelled the last word at the top of his lungs. Birds flew from trees that were a fair distance away. "You will die at the hands of Alex and Dullahan!" The new figure than started moving slowly forward, in the direction the serpent went.


End file.
